Conservatives Want A Fight On The Export-Import Bank Weeks Ahead Of A Looming Shutdown

Members Congress climb the
steps of the House of Representatives for final votes, at the
Capitol in Washington, Thursday, July 31,
2014.AP

Conservative groups are gearing up for a fight over the
Export-Import Bank, weeks ahead of a deadline to pass a bill to
keep the government funded and operating.

The heads of two prominent groups — Heritage Action and the Club
for Growth — wrote a letter to House Majority Leader Kevin
McCarthy (R-California) on Monday urging him to let the bank's
charter expire Sept. 30.

"The Export-Import Bank is a small thing, this we
know," Chris Chocola of the Club for Growth and Mike
Needham of Heritage Action wrote on Monday, the first day
Congress was back in session after a five-week end-of-summer
recess.

"But Leader McCarthy, if you can’t start with the
Export-Import Bank, then how can Americans trust the Republican
Party to tackle the big challenges our nation faces after six
years of President Obama and his failed policies?"

The expiration of the bank's charter comes with the same deadline
to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government funded and
avoid another federal government shutdown.

Renewing the bank's charter has become a source of heated debate within the
Republican Party, with many — including the party's leaders
like McCarthy, House Financial Services Committee
Chair Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas), and House Budget Committee
Chair Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) — saying it serves as little
more than a source of corporate welfare. The
bank provides direct loans, guarantees, and
credit insurance to aid foreign purchasers in buying
American-made goods.

The House could also try to attach an Ex-Im Bank reauthorization
to the bill to keep the government funded.

"Many of us who are critical of the bank feel that the
wisest course is to carry this fight into next year," Ryan
said.

Immediately after the groups' letter to McCarthy was
released, Heritage Action said separately it would "key vote"
against any legislation including any reauthorization of the bank
— including a continuing resolution.

"In terms of politics, there will be some who profess
opposition to Ex-Im while publicly worrying that President Obama
and Senate Democrats will consider an extension of the bank as a
prerequisite to fund the federal government," Heritage Action
communications director Dan Holler said.

"Such partisan brinksmanship on the eve of an important
national election would be detrimental, they will argue. But
Ex-Im is the poster child for cronyism and corporate welfare, and
conservatives cannot shy away the national spotlight.
Conservatives will not drift into catching a national electoral
wave in their favor — they must work to earn a decisive election.
The conservative-led demise of the Export-Import Bank would allow
America’s supposedly conservative party to shed the ugly and
poorly fitting clothes of cronyism that many have worn for far
too long."